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Adjunctive Treatment for Mood Stabilization of Patients with Bipolar I Disorder Treated with Lamotrigine

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 November 2014

Theodore Spaulding ,
Ronald Westlund ,
Christine Thomason ,
Robin White ,
Rebekkah Dann  and
Thomas Thompson
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Abstract

Objective:

To describe the effect of supplemental psychotropic medications, specifically anxiolytics with sedative/hypnotics (ASH) combined with lamotrigine (LTG) on stabilization of symptoms in patients with bipolar I disorder.

Method:

Symptomatic patients participating in two LTG maintenance trials were classified post-hoc as those initiating LTG as monotherapy (n=313) or as adjunctive therapy (n=814) and further characterized by supplemental add-on therapies received during an open-label treatment phase. Patients were considered stabilized if they reached a stable dose of LTG monotherapy (100–200 mg/day) and had a Clinical Global Impressions-Severity scale score ≤3 for at least 4 weeks. Stabilization rates were compared across initial- and supplemental-treatment groups.

Results:

Patients who initiated and were maintained on LTG monotherapy were stabilized at a slightly higher rate compared with those taking LTG adjunctive therapy (55% vs 48%; P=.080). Stabilization rates were numerically higher for LTG monotherapy patients who later received only ASH as supplemental medication compared with LTG monotherapy throughout, but this difference was not significant (66% vs 55%; P=.271). Stabilization rates were significantly higher for monotherapy patients who later received ASH alone versus other psychotropic medications (66% vs 28%; P=.001). For patients initiating LTG as adjunctive therapy, adding ASH alone resulted in significantly higher stabilization rates than adding another psychotropic medication (62% vs 33%; P<.001).

Conclusion:

LTG and adjunctive treatment with ASH may be useful in the treatment of acute mood symptoms in patients with bipolar I disorder.

Type
Original Research
Information
CNS Spectrums , Volume 11 , Issue 9 , September 2006 , pp. 711 - 718
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2006

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